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Icelandic volcano fires up the imagination

The Icelandic ash cloud has lifted, following the eruption of the infamous Eyjafjallajökull volcano, and flights have resumed. So has volcanic tourism.

The three kilometre-high plume from Eyjafjallajokull volcano can be seen from miles away. (Stefan Wege / Photo for the Toronto Star)

It was a tranquil scene for the fishing fleet stationed in Reykjavik Harbour prior to the recent volcano eruption. (Dick Loek / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

By Tammy Burns

Mon., May 3, 2010

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND – It’s shortly before 11 p.m., but in this land of midnight sun, the sky is still a soft shade of blue. Directly in front of me, the infamous Eyjafjallajökull volcano is growling. Its angry grumbles sound like thunder, and every few minutes it releases a particularly ferocious roar that echoes across the valley and incites a gasp from the crowd below it.

Eyjafjallajökull has been a media darling since mid-April, when it released a cloud of ash that stretched over the Atlantic and disrupted air travel throughout Europe. But now, the ash cloud has lifted, flights have resumed, and the Þórsmörk valley beneath the volcano is open for tourism business.

Well, mostly open.

An emergency services crew is stationed next to us, a constant reminder that this isn’t your average tourist day trip. Eyjafjallajökull is, after all, a dangerous volcano. The eruption is located directly beneath a glacier, and when it first blew, a rush of melted glacial water flooded the area. Chunks of ice were flushed down and now remain scattered in the mud along the roadside, an eerie indication of the force behind Eyjafjallajökull.

It’s a two-hour drive from Reykjavik to the town of Hvolsvöllur, and from there, it’s a shaky, bumpy, bone-jarring ride by 4x4 over rocky roads and through rivers into the valley. The glacier towers on my right side, a plume of black and white smoke rising straight up into the sky. Watching it outside the vehicle windows, it is ominous enough. But when we finally arrive at the road’s end and step outside, a loud crack of what seems like thunder shakes the valley. It is the volcano, alerting us to its power.

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The wind is bitter cold, snapping at my jacket and whipping particles in gusts across the valley floor. I am constantly wiping at my eyes and am not sure whether the dust is from sand being kicked up or volcanic ash drifting down from the cloud high above me.

Volcano tourism became a hot commodity for Iceland in March, when a fissure opened up not far from the current eruption, at Fimmvorduhals, a popular hiking trail in the south. Over the two weeks it erupted, thousands of tourists flocked to Iceland, eager for a glimpse of the lava waterfalls and natural fireworks. Icelandic chef Fridgeir Eiriksson even offered a once-in-a-lifetime dining experience, with meals cooked in the steaming lava, for tourists who could afford to fork over the $1,000 per person price tag.

But then things changed. Fimmvorduhals abruptly stopped and Eyjafjallajökull came to life, spewing ash and pouring water into the countryside, and with it, Iceland’s temporary tourist boom came to an end.

Or did it? Now that the floods and ash have cleared, tour companies have started taking tourists to see the power of Eyjafjallajökull up close.

Erling Aspelund, who owns the tour company Iceland Encounter, is one of the guides offering evening excursions to the site. But he’s quick to point out that Eyjafjallajökull should not be underestimated, and it’s in a different league than its gentler sister eruption at Fimmvorduhals.

“These are two very different eruptions,” he says. “The first one was smaller in scale and very colourful, with spouting lava fountains, known as ‘Hawaiian-style.’ Travellers could get as close as one kilometre to the craters. The new one is larger, explosive and … has produced great quantities of ash, which has caused hardship to 20 farms in the area. Nevertheless, it is impressive to view from the surrounding area.”

But Aspelund may not have to worry about tourists underestimating the strength of Eyjafjallajökull. Whereas the first eruption brought hordes of tourists into the area, there are now only a handful of cars parked at the base each night. And his company has been receiving phone calls from nervous clients, questioning their plans to visit Iceland this year.

There’s no question the eruption should be taken seriously, but to see it in person – responsibly, with a recognized tour guide and following the directions of the emergency services team – is to witness Mother Nature at her fiercest.

When the sky is clear, lucky visitors can see a red glow emanating from the crater and sparks of lava bouncing into the air. We visit the volcano on two separate nights, but sadly, both times it’s too misty around the crater to see anything but billows of smoke.

Yet, even without visible lava, the sight of Eyjafjallajökull leaves me and my travel mates speechless. We stand there for over an hour, until the sky finally begins to turn dark and the mist around the crater thickens, shutting Eyjafjallajökull off from our view as if a curtain closing at the end of the show.

We bid farewell and drive away, the growls of an angry volcano fading in the distance.

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